On Monday, Oct. 27th, Todd Park visited Iona University to deliver his talk “The Future of Care” as part of the Presidential Speaker Series. As the Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Devoted Health and the former Chief Technology Officer of the United States, he shared his insights on the intersection of health care and technology. Romita Auditorium was packed with students and faculty who were eager to hear what Park had to say in a panel with Senior Advisor James Mustich.
Park discussed his first entrepreneurial endeavor in length, describing it as a “catastrophic failure and the single most valuable learning experience I’ve ever had.” At twenty four, he ventured to start a maternity care company based on a model of theoretical success. Forced to adapt to major obstacles, Park and his team ended up creating the first internet-based software for doctors’ offices: Athenahealth. Today, he is glad he took this shot at starting a business, as it turned out to be a rewarding career and an invaluable learning experience. Interestingly, although Park was proud of Athena, he doesn’t believe it fulfilled its true potential to help humans.
Park and his brother took a second shot at being “genuinely helpful to the US healthcare system” with Devoted, an all-in-one healthcare company. The mission is to dramatically improve elderly care by treating every patient like family. By focusing on preventative, whole-person care, Park’s company delivers significantly better outcomes with lower costs. Devoted is a reflection of Park’s statement on AI: “it’s only going to transform healthcare if you intertwine it with love.”
Park also discussed his time working for the US government, encouraging students to serve unwaveringly: “if your country asks you to serve in any capacity, just say yes, and you will not regret it.” He shared that this work was incredibly stressful, but only because it was meaningful. The challenges Park overcame gave him the necessary experience to start Devoted and continue leading it today.
Park talked about adapting to rapid technological change in the age of AI by “building a surfboard”, a metaphor for creating a flexible tech platform that can adopt new tools as they arise. Since Devoted followed this principle,they were able to incorporate AI early on, to their tremendous advantage. Park emphasized that they are not using AI to replace humans, but rather to “turn every human into a superhero.”
No technology can ever replace the empathy and connection humans are capable of, and the core idea of Devoted is that healing comes from being cared for. Park ended with a poignant statement on the healing power of love, declaring, “Broken hearts lead to broken bodies; whole hearts lead to whole bodies.” Park will continue his work with Devoted while inspiring the Iona community to embrace human connection in an increasingly technological world.
